Taking a deeper look Sunseri: Deeper look pays dividends
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Pitt quarterback Tino Sunseri
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Pitt redshirt junior quarterback Tino Sunseri is the son of a defensive coach and a student of the game, so this past offseason he decided to watch film and do some scouting.
The player he was interested in watching was himself. His intention was to figure out what an opposing defensive coordinator would see when he watches the same tapes.His conclusion was simple -- he didn't throw the deep ball very well, and it got worse, not better, as the season went on. He was trying too hard to place the ball instead of just letting it fly.
So many days this summer -- after the Panthers' conditioning workouts -- he rounded up any receivers he could find and had them stand deep down the field and worked on throwing the ball to them in different spots.
"I had Devin Street or Mike Shanahan out on the field," Sunseri explained, "and I would let them stand so I could just get a feel for the trajectory of the ball, where it needed to be placed, where it needed to be put for our guy to come down with it.
"I just wanted to make sure I know where to throw it and how to get it there."
Sunseri, whose father, Sal, is a former Pitt player and a defensive assistant coach at Alabama, said he worked on his arm strength and now doesn't have to work quite as hard to throw the ball downfield and in front of his receivers.
Sunseri has done an excellent job of connecting with his deep receivers at camp. Monday, he threw a nice pass for about a 40-yard touchdown to running back Ray Graham and Tuesday he connected for two passes of 30 yards or more.
He said he feels more confident and expects to get better in games because he will be able to throw against spread-out defenses that will be trying to cover Panthers receivers all over the field.
"I think that's the best thing about this offense: If we can start converting the long throws consistently, defenses are going to have to adjust and pick their poison," Sunseri said. "They are already spread out, but we aren't a true spread team because we can run the ball and do it with power with Ray Graham. So teams have to figure out if they are going to move up and stop Ray or cover the rest of the field.
First Published August 17, 2011 12:00 am
